When she was 3 years old, the family returned to Holland, and she finished high school there in 1939.

Around that time, Mrs. Bartlett’s father sensed that Nazi Germany was about to invade his native country.

"Hitler was making terrible noise," Robert Bartlett said.

The family moved to New York City at the last minute, right before Hitler invaded Holland and France, Robert Bartlett said.

During the war, Mrs. Bartlett worked as a translator for the Office of War Information. She could speak four languages: English, Dutch, German and French.

In 1948, she graduated from Columbia University with a major in history and general studies. She then worked as an editorial researcher for Time magazine, finding background information for the magazine’s writers.

She moved to Paris in 1950, looking for a job. That’s when she met Robert Bartlett, an engineering teacher at Robert College in Istanbul, Turkey. Mrs. Bartlett gave birth to their first son, Paul, while they lived in Turkey.

After they moved to Schenectady, N.Y., she gave birth to two more sons, Russell and David.

The couple moved to Columbia for the first time in 1976. During their six-year stay, Mrs. Bartlett attended MU. In 1981, at age 60, she received her master’s degree in child and family development.

Robert Bartlett said she went back to school because she loved to learn and work with children.

After a few more stops across the country, the couple settled in Columbia again in 2005. Robert Bartlett said they had decided it was time to live close to one of their children.